Coal is used as a fuel in many power plants. Before the coal is introduced into the power plant it typically undergoes a pulverization process to reduce the size of the coal from relatively coarse chunks to a fine powder. This is done to increase the reactivity of the coal by increasing the effective surface area, to reduce surface moisture on the coal, and to make transportation of the coal into the furnace forming part of the power plant easier.
There are times during a pulverization process that the coal may ignite resulting in a fire inside a pulverizer. Fires can damage the pulverizer and cause safety risks to personnel, as well as causing delays in a power-providing system relying on the fine coal powder.